


I'm on the dark side of your room with the notches on your bedpost

by pllsetskyonice (hma1313)



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alcohol, Alpha Otabek Altin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Angst with a Happy Ending, DJ Otabek Altin, Friends With Benefits, M/M, Omega Yuri Plisetsky, Slut Shaming, Yuri On Ice Shit Bang 2017
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-19 04:44:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11890284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hma1313/pseuds/pllsetskyonice
Summary: Otabek is twenty when he meets Yuri Plisetsky.Yuri comes into his life like a steam train at full speed, hurtling towards an unknown destination. He’s got long blond hair and even longer limbs, is ridiculously athletic and flexible, and majors in dance. He’s also an omega, but that isn’t something Otabek deems particularly important at their first meeting. In hindsight, though, perhaps he should have because Yuri Plisetsky gets under his skin in a way that no one else has done before.





	I'm on the dark side of your room with the notches on your bedpost

**Author's Note:**

> This was written as part of the [Yuri On Ice Shit Bang 2017](https://yoi-shit-bang.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Thank you so much to the wonderful [osobhi](https://osobhi.tumblr.com/) for doing the artwork for this. Also thanks to [maddcocoa](http://maddcocoa.tumblr.com/) for betaing, I couldn't have done this without you!
> 
> A playlist of music inspired by this fic can be found [here](https://open.spotify.com/user/1137864142/playlist/0w6Of2dsapo8BWWzR9ikiq%22). 
> 
> A general other note: for all intents and purposes this fic is based in the UK where the drinking age is eighteen and the university system is different to the US one that’s usually seen in fics.

Otabek is twenty when he meets Yuri Plisetsky.

Yuri comes into his life like a steam train at full speed, hurtling towards an unknown destination. He’s got long blond hair and even longer limbs, is ridiculously athletic and flexible, and majors in dance. He’s also an omega, but that isn’t something Otabek deems particularly important at their first meeting. In hindsight, perhaps he should have, but Otabek has never been one to pick his friends on account of their secondary gender, and that isn’t about to start now.

They meet in the Arts block when Otabek is handing out flyers for a party he’s DJing at later in the week to bored second years and vaguely lost looking freshmen. The hallway is full of students, all talking about what they’ve been up to over the summer, what lecturers they have and what courses they’re taking this year. None of them seems particularly interested in the flyers Otabek is handing out, some just taking one out of politeness and then putting it in the nearest bin once they’re out of Otabek’s sightline.

Yuri, however, grabs a flyer from his hand before Otabek has even had the chance to offer him one.

“Oh, a party? This looks way cooler than the shitty promos for club nights they’ve been handing out all over campus. I am definitely going. Are you going to be there?” He sounds excited, his eyes lighting up as he quickly reads the flyer.

Having been ignored for most of his morning so far, it takes Otabek a moment to realise that Yuri is actually talking to him. “Oh – uh, yeah,” Otabek replies. “I’m the DJ, so…”

“So it would kind of suck without you. No, I’ll be there. Can I get your number? In case I get lost or whatever?” Yuri is holding his phone out in front of him, and Otabek numbly reaches forward and puts his number into Yuri’s phone, feeling vaguely dazed. “Otabek,” Yuri reads as he turns his phone back around. “Nice. I’m Yuri. See you on Saturday!”

Then he goes, waltzing off down the hall towards his next lecture. Otabek’s phone buzzes in his pocket, a new text from an unknown number reading _see you Saturday! xoxo_. Otabek saves Yuri’s number and carries on walking down the hall, handing out leaflets whilst wondering if that actually all happened or if he dreamt it all.

And that’s how he meets Yuri Plisetsky.

* * *

True to his word, Yuri does turn up on Saturday. Otabek doesn’t notice until he looks up in the middle of DJing and sees Yuri in the middle of the dance floor, commanding the attention of the entire room. He must know everyone’s watching him, but he doesn’t seem to take any notice of it, moving along with the beat as his hair shimmers in the lights. His clothes leave little to the imagination, and Otabek has to shake his head and firmly look down at the controls on the desk so he doesn’t get distracted and do anything stupid like stop the music or change the song too soon.

“Who’s the Omega?” Chris yells over the music when he brings Otabek a drink a bit later in the evening, waving a hand in Yuri’s general direction. It’s a vodka coke that’s a lot stronger than Otabek would usually drink, but at this particular moment in time, he’s grateful for the alcohol, and downs the vast majority of the drink in one.

“He’s called Yuri,” Otabek shouts back as he builds the music up to the next drop. “Met him in the hallway handing out flyers and he said he’d come. I got his number, actually.”

“You got his number?” Chris repeats, looking somewhere between suspicious and impressed. “You, Otabek Altin, got a guy’s number?”

“Well he gave it to me, but yeah.”

“Huh,” Chris scoffs. He looks out towards the crowd, his eyes narrowing as they zero in on a couple in the middle of the dancefloor. “Well, I guess someone should remind him of that, then.”

“What?” Otabek asks, looking confused. Chris points to the middle of the dancefloor, where Yuri is dancing with JJ, where Yuri is grinding with JJ, where Yuri is turning around and casting a glance around the room to check no one’s looking before he slips a hand past JJ’s waistband –

Otabek drains the rest of his drink and crumples the plastic cup in his fist, throwing it behind him as he tries to convince himself that he doesn’t care.

* * *

Yuri wheedles his way into life in a way that Otabek has never seen before. If there’s a party that Otabek is either DJing at or just attending, Yuri will be there, dancing the night away and going home at the end of the night with another of Otabek’s friends on his arm. JJ is just the beginning – Emil, Michele, Phichit, Leo and Guang Hong all follow.

“You know he’s slept with Georgi too, right?” Chris asks as they sit in a bar on a dismal Friday night in the middle of the term.  

“But Georgi’s a Beta,” Otabek says, confused. He’s also annoyed, because although he’s somehow managed to become friends with Yuri during the past couple of months, how the hell has Georgi ending up sleeping with Yuri and he hasn’t? “And also said he’d never sleep with another guy.”

“Yeah, well, I think that was Georgi’s customary ‘I slept with a male Omega in college’ moment. Whatever, that’s not the point here.” Chris pauses to take a sip of his drink. “The point is that no matter how many people Yuri has slept with, or that he had a threesome with Leo and Guang Hong, or that Mila seems to be the only female alpha he has had sex with –”

“Oh, fucking hell –”

“He still thinks of you as a friend. Hell, we all know that hasn’t got a lot of those. I know you don’t want me to tell you you’re in the friend zone but I think I’ve got to because you don’t seem to be able to see that it’s not going to happen between you two, especially not in the immediate future. I know you want to fuck him – let’s face it, who doesn’t – but do you really just want to be another notch on his bedpost? Because that’s all you’ll be if you do end up having sex with him.”

“You’re not helping, Chris,” Otabek says miserably, downing the rest of his drink. “It’s alright for you, you’ve been with your boyfriend since high school. You don’t need to worry about any of this.”

“Yeah, my boyfriend, who’s also an alpha,” Chris reminds him. “I may not have to deal with heats, but we both have ruts, and let me tell you, if we both end up in rut at the same time, it’s not pretty. Stefan’s neighbours actually made a noise complaint last time. That wasn’t fun.” Chris pauses to order another round of drinks from the bartender. “Anyway, I digress. Point is, you need to stop torturing yourself with the will-he-ever-like-me-like-that shit because it’s simply not going to happen, and definitely not in the way you want it to. You’re a relationship kind of guy, and Yuri does one night stands. Get over him before you get your heart broken.”

“I’ll try,” Otabek says as their drinks arrive and Chris pays for them.

“Make sure you do,” Chris replies as he pockets the change. “Getting shitfaced will definitely help with that. Drink up!”

Otabek drinks until he can barely stand up or walk in a straight line, until his brain gets so muddled he’s not even sure what’s happened in the last few hours, until he wanders off and Chris finds him an hour later sitting in a takeaway devouring a plate of cheesy chips. Chris eventually manages to drag him into a taxi and back to their flat, where Otabek spends about an hour sitting in front of the toilet drifting in an out of consciousness, periodically throwing up and sipping from the cup of water Chris had left him. Eventually, he makes it to bed, where he promptly passes out, barely able to remember his own name, let alone Yuri’s.

* * *

The next party Otabek DJs at, Yuri walks in halfway through the night wearing a pair of shorts that are so short Otabek wonders if they class as briefs and a crop top made out of a very sheer lace. Some of his hair is in little plaits on one side of his head, and the glitter that he’s put on his cheekbones sparkles in the light. He’s also, Otabek notes as Yuri walks towards the middle of the dancefloor, wearing thigh highs.

Part of him really wishes he hadn’t noticed that because now he’s not going to focus on anything else for the rest of the night.

As Yuri begins to make eyes at one of the guys Otabek thinks is on the university rugby union team, Otabek makes himself look out at the rest of the party. It’s one of the smaller ones he’s DJed at, hosted at one of the many student houses in one of the suburbs of the city. As he looks around the room, from Mila flirting with Sara at the drinks table to Leo and Guang Hong making out in the corner to Phichit trying to coax Seung Gil onto the dancefloor, he finds his gaze flicking back to Yuri. Yuri in those thigh highs.

God, those thigh highs.

Otabek tears his eyes away again, puts his headphones on and promises that he won’t stare again for the rest of the night.

It doesn’t necessarily work.

* * *

The party has died down when Otabek starts to feel like he’s going into rut. By the time people have either collapsed into the nearest available bed, called for a taxi or staggered down the street home (like Yuri did, holding hands with the rugby player, not that Otabek noticed that or anything), he’s certain he’s going into rut. It’s over two weeks early though, and as Otabek is usually right on time give or take a day or so, it does puzzle him somewhat. It doesn’t really worry him though, sometimes these things happen: it’s just an inconvenience more than anything.

He’s packing up his equipment when Chris wanders into the room sipping a drink, one of the few partygoers who hasn’t called it a night yet. As he walks over to the makeshift stage to help Otabek pack up, he casually sniffs the air, and Otabek watches as Chris’ eyes go wide and he seems to go through ten different emotions in the space of about three seconds.

“Shit, you going into rut?” Chris asks like the answer isn’t obvious and Otabek isn’t making the place smell like a brothel. “Thought you weren’t due yet.”

“I’m not,” Otabek mutters as he slides his laptop into his bag. “It’s just early, that’s all.”

“Oh?” Chris raises his eyebrows. “Nothing to do with the somewhat skimpy outfit Plisetsky turned up wearing tonight and how you couldn’t keep your eyes off him? Yeah, don’t try to deny it, Altin,” Chris says as Otabek makes an indignant noise like he’s trying to protest, “you’re not as subtle as you think. Honestly, I’m surprised that rugby player even left with him, the number of filthy looks you were giving the guy. Why are you even still acting like you’ve got a chance with Yuri? You know it’s not going to happen.”

“I don’t _know_ ,” Otabek all but wails. “I don’t know, Chris, alright?”

“Well, we may not know why you’re still hung up on a guy you’re never going to get to fuck, but we have learnt one thing tonight.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Otabek asks as he starts to haul his stuff to the door, where the taxi has just pulled up at the pavement outside.

“It should be illegal for Yuri Plisetsky to wear thigh highs.”

“Oh my God, Chris, _shut up_!”

* * *

The next time Otabek sees Yuri, it’s at a last-minute movie night that Sara has thrown together for Mila’s birthday. They usually go out for this kind of thing, but Sara had put her foot down, saying it would be nice to do something different for a change, and Mila had somehow (probably reluctantly, and due to the fact that everyone knows she’s desperate to ask Sara out) agreed.

There’s a fairly large crowd crammed into the living room of the house Sara, Michele, Emil, Guang Hong and Leo share, all jostling for the best seats, the ones that are in reach of the popcorn bowls and have a decent view of the TV. Otabek finds himself sitting on the couch next to Yuri, who looks so tired he could fall asleep at any moment.

“Long day?” Otabek asks.

“Y-yeah,” Yuri says through a yawn. “Been in the dance studio all day, practising. I think this is the first time I’ve sat down properly all day. You had lectures today?”

“I’ve had the week off,” Otabek mutters, not really in any mood to go into how he’s spent the past few days locked in his room knotting over and over again, overcome by primal instinct, wanting nothing other than to mate and breed.

“What? Why?” Yuri asks, looking confused for a moment before he realises. “Ohhh. Right.”

“Yeah,” Otabek mumbles. Sara’s hushing everyone as the opening titles of the movie has just started playing, so Yuri doesn’t reply, just curls up tighter on the couch in an almost foetal like position. Within fifteen minutes of the start of the film, he’s fallen asleep, his head resting on Otabek’s shoulder.

Otabek smiles and simply leaves him be.

* * *

Two days later, Otabek gets a text from Yuri: _Mila cancelled on me and says she’s too busy to go shopping :( Will you come instead?_

 _Sure_ Otabek finds himself texting back, stopping what he’s doing and going towards the door, picking up his jacket and keys, yelling over his shoulder to Chris that he’s going out. _See you soon._

And that’s how Otabek spends his Sunday afternoon going from shop to shop to shop, following Yuri around and feeling a bit like a lost dog at a fair. Occasionally, he’s forced to offer his opinion on some of the many outfits Yuri tries on throughout the course of the afternoon, which results in him muttering something generic like “it suits you” because what’s he meant to say when the reality is Yuri could make a bin bag look like haute couture?

“We should do this more often,” Yuri announces when they’re sat in the food court at the end of the afternoon, tucking into McDonald's. “Hang out, I mean,” he adds at the raised eyebrows on Otabek’s face, “not just go shopping.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Otabek replies. “I like hanging out together.”

“Me too.”

* * *

They really do end up hanging out a lot more after that. They go to the cinema, they go bowling, they study together at the library, they spend many evenings at Otabek and Chris’ flat, watching trashy TV and eating takeaway pizza. Yuri lets Otabek sit in the corner of the dance studio when he’s doing private practice, and Otabek spends this time editing and producing music for any upcoming parties.

Otabek learns a lot about Yuri during the periods that they’re hanging out. He learns that his parents aren’t around and he lives with his Grandpa when he’s at home, he learns that he has a cat, full name Puma Tiger Scorpion, Potya for short (“Puma Tiger Scorpion? That’s awesome”). He learns that Yuri has been dancing pretty much since he could walk and he learns that it’s Yuri’s dream to become a world-famous dancer.

“What are you doing about your accommodation next year?” Otabek asks Yuri one afternoon when they’re sat in Otabek’s apartment, getting ready for the party tonight. Otabek is sat at the dining room table, finalising his mixes, whilst Yuri is spreading out all the clothes he’s brought with him out all over the floor, holding up various pieces in front of him as he tries to decide what to wear.

“I don’t know,” Yuri replies, throwing a dark grey tank top into the rejected pile. “I want to get out of halls if I can, though. The ones I’m in fucking suck, they’re segregated by secondary gender so my floor is full of other male omegas who look down on me for sleeping with so many different people. I had one the other week spend about fifteen minutes slut shaming me in the kitchen and saying that I gave other omegas a bad name and that it’s such a shame no one would ever want to mate with me because I’m everyone’s sloppy seconds.”

“Jesus,” Otabek mutters. “That’s rough. What did you say?”

Yuri smirks as picks up a pair of black denim shorts and puts them in the for further consideration pile. “Told him it’s my body so I’ll do whatever I fucking like with it and that it’s a shame I’m out there getting the real thing whilst he’s having to go through his heat with a fake knot. He’s a whiny little bitch that doesn’t believe in suppressants and I fucking hate him. What do you think?” Yuri’s holding up the denim shorts from earlier and a crop top with tiger print around the edges. “With my thigh highs?”

“Sounds good,” Otabek says, feeling rather weak at the prospect of Yuri wearing thigh highs. It had had some… interesting repercussions last time, and Chris had found the entire situation hilarious. “Anyway, back to your accommodation situation, you could always move in here next year.”

“Really?” Yuri asks, his eyes wide. “Your landlord doesn’t mind unmated omegas and alphas living together?”

“Nah, he’s really chill,” Otabek replies. “But yeah, you’re welcome to move in here. Chris graduates this year and although he’s staying on to do his Master’s, he’s moving in with his boyfriend so I’m going to have a spare room. You’re welcome to it if you want.”

“I think I might well take you up on that,” Yuri says as he puts the clothes he’s not wearing this evening back into the bag he brought them in. “If I have to put up with Mr ‘Suppressants-Are-Society-Suppressing-Us’ for another year I’m actually going to scream. You know he tried to get me to join the Omega Equality society and go on marches with him?” Otabek shakes his head. “Well, he did, and he didn’t look at all pleased when I told him I wasn’t really interested in that stuff. Like, omega rights are important, I get that, and I know we’re the bottom of the ladder in society, particularly male omegas, but really, what’s a load of students marching through the city centre going to do to change the inequalities that’s been built into the patriarchy for hundreds of years? Sorry, it just really pisses me off.” Yuri stands up and puts his bag in the corner so it’s out of the way and wanders into the kitchen pulling his hair out of the loose bun he’d had it tied up in. “Do my hair?”

Ever since Yuri discovered Otabek does his little sister’s hair when he’s home from university, Yuri has been making full use of having someone who knows how to do hair around. Mostly, he uses the excuse that “you don’t want to be out of practice for your sister”, but Otabek knows Yuri really likes having other people do his hair for him. It’s in the most gorgeous condition, the long blond locks that flow in waves all the way down his back. It’s the kind of hair most people would love to have.

“Sure, just give me a minute,” Otabek says, hitting save on the files he’s been working on and shutting his laptop. He gathers up Yuri’s hair grips and elastics and all the little bits of jewellery he sometimes likes to weave into his hair from where they’d been abandoned on the kitchen table, and goes through to the living room, where he motions for Yuri to sit down in front of him on the sofa. “You got your brush?”

“Yeah,” Yuri says, passing it back to Otabek. Otabek puts down all the grips he’s got tucked in his hand on the cushion beside him and slowly starts brushing through Yuri’s hair, making sure not to tug at it too hard when he comes across knots.

“What are we doing today?” Otabek asks as he starts brushing the last section of Yuri’s hair. “Up? Down? Plaits or not?”

“Can you do what you did last time? I really liked that.”

“Yeah, sure,” Otabek says, starting to section off Yuri’s hair so he can do the plaits. “You looking forward to tonight?”

“You’re asking me if I’m looking forward to a party?” Yuri asks, chuckling. “Yeah, of course I am. And I want to see if Mila and Sara have got their acts together and are actually dating. Same with Phichit and Seung-gil. They’ve been messing each other around for far too long now.”

“Yeah, I know,” Otabek replies as he nears the centre of the first plait. “Phichit seems to really want it but Seung-gil doesn’t seem so sure.”

“I don’t know why, I’ve told him that Phichit’s great in bed on many occasions but he never listens to me. Don’t know why, that’s a real compliment coming from me, I’ve got a lot of people to compare to.” Yuri crosses his arms and sighs. “Or maybe he sees that as a bad thing? I don’t know.”

“Well, I guess some people would,” Otabek murmurs as he starts on the second plait. “You know I don’t. It’s your body and all that. But I don’t know about Seung-gil. No one ever seems to know what’s going on with him.”

“That’s true,” Yuri agrees. They lapse into silence as Otabek continues plaiting Yuri’s hair, finishing them with the little elastics that seem to disappear on a more regular basis than Yuri’s hair grips do. Once he’s finished the three small plaits on the left hand side of Yuri’s face, he brushes through the rest of the remaining loose hair before reaching for the can of hairspray that’s sitting on the coffee table. He uncaps it and gives Yuri’s hairdo a generous coating, because if the amount of dancing Yuri usually does on a night out is anything to go by, it’s going to need it. “You done?” Yuri asks when Otabek places the can of hairspray back on the table and leans back on the sofa.

“Yeah,” Otabek replies. “I’d offer to do your makeup too, but frankly I’d probably end up blinding you with an eyeliner pen or something.”

“Probably,” Yuri says as he gets up. “Hey, Otabek?”

“Yeah?”

“Tenner says both Sara and Mila and Phichit and Seung-gil are together by the end of the night.”

“Alright,” Otabek smirks. “You’re on.”

* * *

Yuri is waiting for him when Otabek gets out of the party in the early hours of the morning, holding out his hand expectantly. “I believe you owe me some money.”

Otabek sighs. Sara and Mila had turned up to the party together, holding hands and kissing at any given opportunity. Later, Phichit kissed Seung-gil completely out of the blue, and although he’d looked kind of shocked at first, he was soon smiling and kissing Phichit back. “Shouldn’t you be going home with a football player or something?” Otabek asks as he digs he wallet out of his jeans pocket and hands over the money.

“Very funny,” Yuri says as he pockets the note. “Everyone who was here tonight I’ve either already slept with or they’re dating someone else, and as I don’t fuck anyone twice, I’m going home alone. Speaking of: did you really mean it about me moving in with you next year?”

“Yeah,” Otabek says as they walk down the garden path together towards the pavement. “I’ll talk to my landlord and someone’ll send you the details. How are you getting home?”

Yuri shrugs. “I don’t know,” he admits. “And I’ve lost the key for my accommodation so even if I get back to halls I don’t know how I’ll get in.”

“Well, I was just going to order an Uber, you want to come back to mine and sleep on the sofa?”

“That’d be great,” Yuri says. “Thanks.”

Otabek leans against the garden wall as he gets his phone out of his pocket and orders an Uber. In the dim light of the street lamp, he notices that Yuri’s shivering. “You cold or something?”

“I’m Russian,” Yuri snaps. “I don’t get cold.”

Otabek, however, has already taken off his jacket, holding it out to Yuri. Yuri ignores the jacket in front of him for a good couple of minutes before Otabek sighs and says, “Just take the damn jacket, Plisetsky.” Yuri takes the jacket and puts it on, but not without muttering under his breath how he’s not really that cold and this really isn’t necessary.

The Uber pulls up a moment later, and they both get in. Yuri could easily have taken the jacket off once he’s in the car, but he doesn’t, instead choosing to wrap the jacket around him even tighter. It’s something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Otabek.

Yuri nods off on the ride home at about the same time that the Uber driver decides now is a good time to make small talk. “You been together long, you and your boyfriend?” he asks as they sit at junction waiting for the lights to change.

“Oh, we’re – he’s not my boyfriend,” Otabek says. “We’re not together.”

“Huh,” the driver says. “Could’ve fooled me. You want my advice?”

Otabek suspects he’s going to get it anyway. “Sure.”

“You should be. Together, I mean. He’s a pretty little thing and you should ask him out before someone else gets there first. You’d make a good couple.”

* * *

Living with Yuri should be good. Except, in reality, it’s anything but.

They’ve been living together for all of a week when Yuri comes home with a bottle of vodka, gets two glasses out of the cupboard, and announces that they need to toast their new flat. Otabek turns the music up as Yuri pours the drinks, and they spend hours talking and dancing and laughing together. They’re drunk and things are blurry and the moments are getting muddled up in Otabek’s brain when Yuri leans forward and kisses him.

Things only go downhill from there.

* * *

Whilst Otabek appreciates that he’s one of the few people that have slept with Yuri more than once and is the one person Yuri will go to when he gets home feeling drunk and horny, he finds it difficult not to get attached. He’s very much a with strings kind of guy, whilst Yuri cut them with his own scissors long ago and the threads are lying somewhere long forgotten. He tries not to get attached but finds himself getting jealous every time Yuri lets himself into the flat in the morning wearing the clothes from the night before, eyeliner clinging to the edges of his eyes where it hasn’t been washed off properly and the scent of some random alpha hanging onto his clothes. He tries not to get attached but then finds himself mixing music and daydreaming about how Yuri would dance to it. He tries not to get attached, and then rarely says no when Yuri comes home and practically demands to be fucked. He tries not to get attached, and, well.

He fails.

Every so often, he’ll try to distance himself from Yuri. He’ll say no to the sex as he tries to redraw the line between friendship and relationship that has been smudged ever since that fateful night one week after they moved in together. Except Yuri is extremely good at getting what he wants, and Otabek only manages for a few days before he lets himself fall back into the familiar routine and Yuri’s bedsheets.

“It’s going to be different this time,” Otabek tells Chris as they sit in the Starbucks on campus one morning in late November. “I’m going to stop this, whatever it is that’s going on between us. I can’t do it anymore, I just can’t.”

“I’ll believe that when I see it,” Chris replies, not sounding convinced. “You’ve been telling yourself that for months and I’m yet to see it materialise for more than a couple of days.”

“I’m serious, Chris!” Otabek snaps. “I can’t deal with it anymore, or how he makes me feel, or any of it. I can’t sleep with him anymore.”

“Except you totally will,” Chris says, fiddling with the straw in his drink. “You’re addicted to him and having sex with him and fucking him until he begs for more. And you hate it when he comes home with some other alpha’s scent clinging to him and you tell yourself that you’re not jealous but you totally are. Tell me I’m wrong.”

“You –” Otabek glares at Chris. “You’re not helping. You’re supposed to be making me feel better, not worse.”

“I never agreed to that.”

“You’re insufferable.” Otabek’s phone buzzes in his pocket and he sighs when he sees who it’s from, cursing the fact that message had to come now of all times.

_New message from Yuri: I’m bored. Wanna fuck?_

“He doesn’t beat around the bush, does he?” Chris asks, smirking as he reads the text from across the table. “So, even though I know you’re itching to go over there, what are you going to tell him?”

Otabek sighs, his thumbs hovering over the keypad. Eventually, he settles for _I’m busy. Sorry._

 _:(_ is what Otabek gets back a moment later. He ignores it and reminds himself that he doesn’t care.

He doesn’t.

* * *

It takes a week before Yuri notices something’s up. It feels different than the times before when Beka would brush him off sometimes but Yuri knew, he always knew, that he’d give in eventually. He likes the stability he’s got with Otabek, the reliability, if you will, and he doesn’t want that to change.

So when Otabek stops replying to his texts asking to hook up and outright ignores him if Yuri propositions him in the flat, of course, he notices.

“Come on, Beka, please,” he whines, stretching out on the sofa so Otabek can have a full view of the lacy underwear he’s got on. “No one fucks me like you do.”

It’s completely true – it’s different with Otabek, it always has been. He gets Yuri in a way none of his other partners ever have, and, through many repetitions, has learnt what Yuri does and doesn’t like. They complement each other, fitting together like two jigsaw pieces no one thought went together at first.

Otabek doesn’t even look up, staring intensely at his laptop screen as he works on something. Yuri huffs and pushes his briefs down, quickly stroking himself to full hardness. “Beka, look,” Yuri says as he strokes himself, “look what you’re missing out on. Are you sure you don’t want to join in the fun?”

Otabek’s eyes don’t even flick in Yuri’s direction. “I’m busy,” he snaps, getting up and retreating to his bedroom and slamming the door behind him.

Yuri stops jerking himself off as the sound of the door slamming reverberates through the flat. He feels kind of weird, Otabek’s never completely refused to look at him like he did just now, not even when they go through those periods of refusing to fuck until Otabek caves in. Something’s obviously changed, and that scares him no end.

* * *

Despite all of his best efforts, giving Yuri the silent treatment isn’t really having quite the effect that Otabek originally planned. Yuri has started going out more often and coming back less, sometimes managing to avoid Otabek for three whole days.

“This isn’t working,” Otabek says to Chris at lunch. It’s just over two weeks since he turned Yuri down and it’s the longest he’s gone without having sex with Yuri since they started sleeping together. He almost feels like he’s going through some sort of withdrawal. “I miss him.”

“What a shocker,” Chris says blithely. “Has he noticed at all?”

“That I’m ignoring him and refusing to have sex with him? Yeah, he’s noticed.” Otabek picks at his sandwich, pulling the lettuce out of it and putting it on the edge of the plate. “I’ve barely seen him this past week.”

“Mila said she’s seen him outside the clubs a lot more,” Chris says, taking a sip of his drink. “Said he’s left with someone different every night this week.”

“I don’t even know how I’m supposed to feel about that,” Otabek confesses. “On the one hand, I feel like I should be glad that he’s acknowledged that I’m not there at his beck and call, but then I’m also jealous because it’s not me he’s going home with at the end of the night.”

“Fuck me, you’re really far gone on him,” Chris says, his eyes wide. “Honestly, you’re like the poster boy for the guy that ended up falling for his friend with benefits. You’re a fucking mess.”

“I know,” Otabek groans. “I know I should’ve stopped it sooner, and I know that I’m no good when it comes to casual relationships, but at the same time, I couldn’t stop it, because –”

“Because you’re addicted to him, in love with him, need him to be yours and yours alone,” Chris finishes. “Whatever, just sort it out, Altin. Even if it’s only so I don’t have to listen to your pitiful whining about it all every week. Sort it. Out.”

* * *

When Otabek gets back to the flat, Yuri is there. It’s the first time Otabek has seen him in two days and he feels his breath catch in his throat when he sees Yuri sitting curled up on the sofa, scrolling on his phone, his blond hair shining in the sunlight coming in through the window. Yuri’s eyes flick up when he hears the door open and close but soon look back down again, not paying any attention to Otabek’s presence.

“Hey,” Otabek says, taking his bag off his shoulder and placing it next to the bookshelf. “You okay?”

“Like you care,” Yuri mutters, refusing to look up. He stares at his phone screen instead, his brow furrowed into a frown as he taps incessantly at his screen, no doubt trying to beat another level on Colour Switch or something.

“I do,” Otabek replies, crossing the room and sitting down next to Yuri on the couch. He reaches out to touch Yuri, but Yuri jumps up, the frown on his face now looking angry rather than frustrated.

“Oh no,” Yuri says. “You don’t get to do that, Beka.”

“Do what?” Otabek asks, genuinely confused.

“Come over here and get sex out of me because I’m actually here for once and it’s convenient for you even though you’ve completely ignored me for the past two weeks,” Yuri replies, his voice growing louder with every passing word. “You don’t get to do that! You can’t just use me and chuck me away whenever you feel like it, and then drag me back again because you’ve got bored of being alone. You don’t get to do that, you don’t get to do that, YOU DON’T GET TO DO THAT!”

Yuri is screaming now, tears welling at the corners of his eyes. He wipes at them with a shaky hand, sitting down on the couch again, but at the other end, so he’s out of Otabek’s reach.

“Shit, Yura, I didn’t – I don’t – I’m sorry,” Otabek says.

Yuri sniffs, wiping at his eyes again. “I hate this,” he whispers. “You made me feel like shit, Beka. You just started ignoring me without any warning and I didn’t know why. You’d never turned me down before. No one ever turns me down. Ever. And that made me feel like shit because I had no idea what I’d done wrong or how to fix it.”

“Yeah well, maybe that’s the problem,” Otabek says, the words flowing out of his mouth before he can stop them, and maybe this is bad road down to go down but fuck it, he’s already made the turning down the one way street so there’s no turning back now, “the fact that no one ever turns you down. Do you stop to think about how that made me feel? Or anyone else that you’ve ever slept with?”

“Shut up,” Yuri says, a shaky edge to his voice, “Shut up, Beka.” He takes a deep breath to compose himself and forces himself to look Otabek straight in the eyes. “You knew what you were getting into with this. You knew I had a reputation, you knew I’d slept with practically every single one of your friends. You knew, and you could have said no, but you didn’t. So we carried on even though I knew it was only going to end in tears because you’re not the kind of guy that does one night stands or casual hookups, you’re the kind of guy that won’t do anything more than kiss you on the first date and turns up to your parents’ house with a bunch of flowers and a bottle of wine when you’re invited round. I know people see me as easy but the truth is I don’t like sleeping with the same person twice because I get attached so easily. So easily, Beka.”

Otabek swallows nervously. “What are you saying?” he asks, his mind casting back to the countless times he’s had sex with Yuri over the past few months.

“I’m saying you’re not the only one that got attached.”

“What – you mean you – you – I don’t –” Otabek babbles, a part of him wondering if Yuri is messing with him, but he looks up and sees the look on Yuri’s face and knows he’s being serious. “Shit.”

“I don’t want this to end,” Yuri confesses in a small voice. “Please don’t let this end.”

“I don’t want this to end either,” Otabek replies. “You maybe want to come over here?”

He holds out an arm and Yuri slowly unfurls himself from his current position, shuffling along the couch until he’s leaning into Otabek’s side with Otabek’s arm wrapped around him. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles into Otabek’s chest.

“No, I’m sorry,” Otabek replies. “It’s me that should be apologising. I should never have treated you like I did, but I was scared and acted rashly. I’m so sorry, Yura.”

It’s certainly not the end of the conversation, but it’s definitely a start.

* * *

Otabek next sees Chris in the coffee shop in the Arts building, bumping into him in a mad dash to get a coffee before his 9 am lecture starts. “Oh shit, sorry Chris,” Otabek says, stepping to the side before starting to resume his walk towards the counter. Chris is with his boyfriend, the one that’s getting a PhD in Biochemistry or something equally nerdy that Otabek would rather listen to Pachelbel’s Canon on repeat for a day than sit through a lecture of.

“Wait, Otabek,” Chris says, catching hold of his jacket sleeve. “What’s with the smile you can’t seem to wait off your face?”

“Smile – what – I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Otabek stammers, feeling his face getting redder by the second. “Am I not allowed to smile now or something?”

“That’s your ‘I got laid’ smile. I should know because I haven’t seen it for the past few weeks. So tell me, did you sleep with Plisetsky again, or is it someone else?”

“Make a wild fucking guess,” Otabek mutters at the same time he hears Chris’ boyfriend say “Yuri Plisetsky? _That_ Yuri?” in a tone that suggests the only stories he’s heard about Yuri are the ones that get talked about in the locker rooms and down the pub on a Friday night.

“Jesus _Christ_ , Altin. I thought you said you were through with him?”

“He loves me.” The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them, and at the sceptical look on Chris’ face, he adds, “Really, Chris. I went home last night and we argued something stupid but both ended up confessing our feelings for each other and yeah, well. You can imagine how the rest went.”

“So it’s serious?” Chris asks, sounding like he can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. Otabek can’t blame him – if you’d told this time yesterday that Yuri Plisetsky is in love with him, he’d have laughed in your face.

“Yeah.” Otabek shifts his bag strap on his shoulder. “He says he wants to come off his suppressants so we can mate.”

“Fuck me, it is serious.” Chris forces the somewhat disbelieving look into a smile. “Well, I’m happy for you. I honestly never thought anyone would ever be able to pin Yuri down – _really, Stefan_?” he adds at his boyfriend dissolving into a fit of laughter at ‘pin Yuri down’. “I know my mind is generally in the gutter but that doesn’t mean you have to join me there. Anyway, Otabek, I really am happy for you. Make sure you invite us to the wedding!”

“I will do,” Otabek says, smiling, beginning to make a move towards the counter. “I’ve got to go, see you later.”

“Bye!”

* * *

“Wow, everything looks so much different from up here,” Yuri says. It’s a Friday night and he’s helping Otabek set up for the party tonight. Currently, they’re on the stage, which for once is not a makeshift one crammed into a corner of someone’s living room, but an actual one that’s permanently there. They’re in one of the small clubs in the student union, which JJ has hired out for the night since it’s his and Isabella’s three month anniversary or something equally as sappy. Yuri’s looking out to the dancefloor below as Otabek sets up his equipment, and is somewhat in awe of the view. “Does it ever feel weird looking out and seeing the floor full of people and knowing you’re the reason they’re dancing?”

“Uh,” Otabek says as he plugs in the cables, “I’ve never really thought about that before. Not really, I guess.”

“Huh,” Yuri says. He’s now sitting crossed legs on the end of the table, fiddling with a small part of his hair, putting it into little plaits. “You know, I think the music was part of the reason I fell in love with you. I mean, there’s a lot of other reasons but… the music definitely contributed to it.”

“I got into the habit of making mixes and imagining how you’d dance to them,” Otabek confesses. “Most of the stuff I’ve done over the past year or so has all been with you in mind.”

“I feel so flattered.”

“I’m glad.” Otabek walks over to Yuri and kisses him. “I’m so happy we got everything sorted out.”

“Me too,” Yuri replies, leaning forward to kiss Otabek again. “Me too.”


End file.
